to wonder if this will have any effect on the legality of cannabis in the UK?

From 2014 in Washington and Colorado states in the USA, the recreational use of cannabis will be legal. It will also become legal in Uruguay, the first country to make recreational use legal. This has not been done lightly and legalisation will be tightly controlled and regulated after a lot of research was done on the impact in all 3 places.

It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on the future legality of cannabis in the UK. I think in the next few years more and more places will be making it legal to use recreationally, especially as there are potentially huge income streams associated with taxes/licensing of legal cannabis sellers.

Do people think it should be legalised in the UK if properly regulated/controlled in the same way as tobacco/alcohol is?

I'm not a recreational user, but the pain killing properties have helped in the past where all the legal drugs don't, I take morphine and tramadol and codeine and amitriptyline at varying times and they are far more addictive with worse side effects.

It would need to be regulated of course, I think it would be beneficial to many people living in chronic pain. I also hope they would make it in forms easier to take, rather than encouraging smoking alongside it.

My knowledge of the stuff is fairly naive mind you, I am sure there are people that could bring a better argument for the case for legalisation than me. I just know it's brought great relief to me in times when my pain becomes unbearable.

I doubt it'll make any difference at all, as the longstanding example - far closer to home and within EU - hasn't made any difference

you may be right but then again as more and more countries legalize formerly illegal drugs we may reach a tipping point where it seems normal for recreational substances to be legal.

I am ambivalent on the matter, drugs (including alcohol) can cause harms but making them illegal doesnt stop people using them it just creates incentives for criminals to supply them.Black markets are harmful to the wider economy.

The last thing that drug dealers want is for drugs to be legal, then again we have a whole new legal highs market which is impossible to control.

I think we should just accept that it is part of normal human behaviour to enjoy intoxication ( I speak as someone who doesnt use any legal or illegal intoxicant)

I can quite legally go and buy a few litres of vodka right not, but if I was caught making it in my garden shed and selling it, I'd be arrested

yes but you can make as much wine or beer as you like...I'm wondering what the legislation would be wrt growing cannabis.

It's very easy (and very cheap) to do, anyone with a cannabis habit can very easily grow enough to keep them happy, if most cannabis users grow their own there would be very little tax revenue from the sale of it.

Or am I being unrealistic in thinking that most people would grow rather than buy?

I used to use cannabis regularly/daily, I lost interest and gave it up over 10 years ago.